𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦! 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘬𝘶!

| 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕒 | 

Final exams came a lot sooner than i would have liked them to. It was the one time the whole school was civil and actually buckled down to study. I did my best to focus, but my mind didnt want to work with me. Every time i sat down with the study guides our teachers had given us i fell asleep within seconds.

Magnus was no help. He had even less focus than i did; yet somehow he still managed to do better in school work than I did, so he could afford a little lack of focus. I could not. A fact that had greatly irritated me for ages. 

i'd also been going back and forth with myself over sirius black. I didnt believe most of what nina was saying. I mean, maybe he did kill my father, maybe he didnt i dunno. I personally feel as if our dear nina is going mad... but then again as long as he been on the run he hasnt hurt anyone has he? Even though he's had the chance many-a-time? Of course... being a wanted man he would want to be cautious. He wouldnt want to get thrown back into prison before doing what he came to do. Which was either to kill a rat (if you believed nina) or to kill me my brother and harry (if you believed everyone else).

it was very disconcerting. Time and time again i wondered if i should have told professor mcGonagall or even the head master that i had seen him, if i should have said something about his anamagus form... but every time i thought about confessing this news to anyone, even my brother or my best friends, there was a small voice that rang in the back of my head: keep this a secret.

And, taking into account Nina's advice from earlier in the year our first instincts are usually the right one i stayed quiet about it. But it made me feel incredibly guilty. Like i was betraying my brother (and harry i suppose) and putting everyone at risk by keeping this information secret. It did not help my stress levels i can tell you that.

So. Yeah. Focusing on exams was not much of an option for me at the time. 

The only exam i was confidant id passed was care of magical creatures, but that was only because Hagrid had given us a tub of flobberworms (disgusting) and told us to pass they had to be alive at the end of the hour. I took the opportunity to open my potions book to study for our next exam. at least i tried. It was impossible to take in any information with the other students chattering in the background and my mind was going far too wild with a million thoughts i had no hope of controlling.

i slammed the book shut seeing as how it was useless. "I am going to fail everything!" 

"Oh no dont say that!" parvati told me. "Im sure youll do better than you think!" 

"no. Im going to fail. I just know it." I was on the verge of tears. Why couldnt i have been blessed with brains like Hermione? 

"No, no, look. It's alright. You just need a little more study time. Here, let me quiz you on History." She held her hand out for my study guide. "What year did the salem witch trials take place?" 

"uh, some time in the 1800s?" I guessed. 

She winced. "1692 - 1693." I must have had a worried look on my face becuz she hurried to say, "its fine. Its fine. Let's just move on to the next one shall we? explain the capitulum Episcopi." I had no idea what that was. Oh crude... "okay, alright. Lets skip that one. What about this: where did the valais witch trials start?" i stared at her blankly. "Ti ti! it's in the name!" 

i hid my head in my jumper. "I am so screwed..." 

Outside the potions class room Nina was giving me advice that im sure she meant to be helpful in some copasity. "Just focus on getting the Confusing Concoction to thicken right and you'll be fine." 

"what if i cant do that?" i asked.

"oh. Well, then he'll probably give you a zero..." this did nothing but stress me out more. I thought id done pretty bad but at least i could take solace in the fact that mine wasnt the worst in the class. Harrys was much worse off than mine was. 

History of magic was dreadful, just as i predicted. There just was no way i could keep all those dates and names in order; it didnt help that we'd had our astronomy exam (another horrible failure) right before it at midnight. I was so tired from that awful timing that i kept dozing off every time i started to read a question. herbology was awful (why must the green houses be so hot?). 

Defense was better. There werent any stupid paper tests or dumb dates to memorize. In fact the class was held outside, where professor lupin had set up an obstacle course for us filled with all the creatures we'd learned to defend against that year. A pool of grindylows, potholes full of red caps, a patch of marsh with misleading directions from the hinkypunks, and finally an old trunk with a boggart. I thought i did alright. Mighta lost a few points when i tripped over one of the pot holes but at least it went better than any of the other written tests id taken. The part where i struggled the most, though, was the boggart. 

I hadnt properly faced one before so i wasnt sure what to expect. At the moment i felt my biggest fear could be failing all my classes or not being as good as my other classmates (hermione granger in particular), Or maybe it would be my new foster parents being awful to me or else never getting off the streets, but what appeared before me was something else entirely. 

 I dont want to get into the details just now, it's far too personal. Perhaps some other time i might fill you in on the finer details, but for now lets just say it was quite disturbing. My worst nightmare: my brother getting corrupted by the jerks of Slytherin and the two of us becoming enemies... it was a hard scene to take in. I had to remind myself that we'd made a pact, a promise not to turn on each other. The idea that we could ever not be on the same side was just... 

"riddikulus!" 

The boggart disappeared and i hurried out of the trunk feeling rather put out. I found my brother a bit after that. He seemed in a bit of a hurry to get away from professor lupin (who actually looked as though he were trying to catch him before he left) but otherwise he was his normal, dorky, annoying self. We left, running away from the obstacle course. 

"Why are we running?" i asked. 

"I... might have nicked something off Lupin," Magnus told me, dragging me around the corner. "He might have noticed." 

"hold on." i stopped him just outside the Great Hall. "I thought you only stole from people like Malfoy. Lupin couldnt be more different." 

"yeah but... look at this thing." 

he took something out of his pocket: an old, frail looking parchment. "Wow, maggie that's... facinating?" 

"shut up," he said. "Watch." i sighed but gestuted for him to get on with it. Magnus held up the parchment and said, "i solemnly swear im up to no good." 

I looked back at him, unimpressed. "Up to no good? seriously? that's ── oh my god!" The parchment was suddenly filled up with ink all over the page. I took it from him, looking over all the tiny dots depicting the people of Hogwarts. "This could be so problematic in the wrong hands... why do you have it?" 

"haha, very funny," magnus rolled his eyes. "I've been avoiding Lupin as much as possible, because I think he'll probably want to take it back." 

"Why did lupin have it?" I asked. 

"He took it from harry." 

"why did harry have it?" 

"Working theory: the weasley twins gave it to him." 

"but where did they get it?"

"probably stole it from filch, who probably took it from the map makers themselves. whoever they are..." 

"well i reckon thats..." i checked the title of the map again. "Moony, wormtail, padfoot, and prongs..." I pulled a face. "what the heck is a prongs?" 

"No idea," Magnus said. "Something to do with a fork I think." 

I shook my head becuz that sounded completly stupid. "why would this person name themself after a fork?" 

"maybe he was stab happy like nina?" 

I snorted. Nina Snape had a bit of a reputation for stabbing people with forks when they got too close to her. Thankfully, i had not seen her attack anyone in this way all year. "Well, i have divination next so..." 

"thats sad. For you. Im finished." 

"bastard." 

he laughed. I watched him for a moment, thinking of the boggart id just faced. Im not sure if it was my skill in divination or just some sort of twin intuition but somehow, someway, i knew in that moment that i wouldnt see him this way again for a long time. i wouldnt see him at all over summer And who knew how much could change in all that time? we might be total different people, this time next year.

I wanted a proper home, a proper family, more than anything in the world. but i also wanted my brother to have that. I wanted to have that with him. By my side forever and ever. We were a team that's how it was supposed to be I didnt want him to become the boggart. I didnt want this to be the last time he got to be care free, annoying, pain in the arse Magnus; i didnt want this to be the last time i saw him as my brother. 

It didnt matter how many times i shouted the word riddikulus the heavy weight settling over my heart wouldnt have faded. 

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" 

i hadnt noticed id started crying until he said that. "Ah, Maggie." i wiped at my eyes and moved to hug him. "I'm going to miss you this summer..." 

"i ── well, we're not saying goodbye yet!" he said, pushing me off. "I know I'm basically the best brother you've got but there's no reason to get upset about it." 

"pfft." i sniffed rubbed my eyes again. "Shut up. You're the only brother I've got..." 

"Seriously." he looked back at me with this determined expression that he usually reserved for heist planning only. That's how i knew he was planning something stupid. I just hoped it wasn't too stupid... "we'll be fine. Trust me." 

"of course i trust you, maggie." it was everyone else around him i didnt trust. 

He nodded like that was the end of it, but i was still feeling a bit uneasy. Maybe it was the stress of exams Plus sirius black was getting to me. "Good. Well, go on, then. Finish your exams." He held up the map. "I'm going to go manage some mischeif or whatever." 

"dont get into too much trouble without me." 

"without you itll be much easier to avoid." 

"shut up." i shoved him. "Im the best sister you've got." 

"you're the only sister I've got." 

◑ω◐

I was glad divination was my last exam. It would be good for me to end on a high note. It was the only class in which i was confidant in my skill set; i was sure i passed the exam with flying colours. I'm sure i saw the outcome of hagrids hippogriff problem (the massive creature soaring away into the night, a smashed pumpkin, an axe, a lot of misleading things but I knew buckbeak would be fine). 

professor trelawney told me i was free to go when id finished, but i hung back as she called harry up for his exam. I got the feeling id need to hear what was being said. I sat by the trap door and listened carefully. 

"── It looks fine... it's flying away." 

i scoffed at Harry's 'predicition'. the little shit copied me. I think professor trelawney knew this as well, because she sounded disappointed when she spoke.

"I'm sure you did your best."

There was movement in the classroom above, and then someone spoke: a thick, raspy voice, harsh and scratchy as if they'd been yelling a lot recently. It took me a moment to recognize it as Professor Trelawney's. "It will happen tonight." 

I scrambled for my quill and note pad, hoping id be fast enough to write down what i was hearing before i forgot it. "The dark lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The dark lord will rise again with his servants aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was... " 

Harry left shortly after that, looking more confused than anything. Professor Trelawney found me sitting by the stairs, nodding like she knew I'd be there. "Miss Pettigrew, we must away to find your brother. There is much to discuss." I didnt argue. 

But thanks to the marauders map (what an awful name) we didnt have to search for long. Magnus found us. Back in trelawney's tower we looked over the professor's prediction (as best we could anyway, i had scribbled it all down in a hurry and my handwriting wasnt exactly at its best). 

"so... what does that mean exactly?" Magnus asked slowly. I thought he was probably thinking about the vision he'd seen on the train at the beginning of the year (oh how that seemed like ages ago...). "ol' voldy's gonna come back from the dead tonight?" 

"not tonight necessarily," professor trelawney said. "Perhaps, but not necessarily. It could very well just be that the servant merely sets out to find him..." She looked more worried than i had ever seen her, even more worried than when she kept seeing the grim in Harry's future. I got the idea that the two things were connected. I mean, Magnus' vison sort of made that much ovious. I wasnt sure what i was supposed to be feeling right then. Dread? fear? horror? 

people always talked about this 'dark lord' guy as if he were the devil himself risen straight out of hell. I, having never experienced his reign of terror, had never really taken any of this seriously. Sure, the stories were messed up, but that's all they were to me. Stories. 

But for professor trelawney it was much more than that. It was real life for her. Real history. That she and countless others had lived through. For her, this must have been a nightmare to propecise. And knowing no one else would believe us if we were to say anything... oh it was just awful! 

I looked at Magnus who was reading over the prediction again and Professor Trelawney who was fidgeting with her shaw with shaky hands. I remembered what she'd said about the inner eye being a burden, but i also remembered her telling magnus and i that our aurors were very very strong. Maybe the more seers the better. Maybe we could lessen the burden a little for her... 

"What if... what if my brother and i had a go at one of these prophecies?" i suggested. "it might give us a clue on what to do next?" 

Professor Trelawney looked at me astonished. "ah, such bravry in the face of certain doom my dear." i wasnt sure if her admiration was justified or not; i was sure the gravity of the situation just hadnt settled in yet. 

"Yup," Magnus said. "She's brave and I'm stupid, let's do this!" 

professor trelawney nodded and with her voice still shaking slightly started to give us instructions. "Prophecies can be difficult to channel on command. Near impossible in fact... the amount of focus... but im sure with the two of you together... yes... well, we'll give it a shot. Close your eyes if it will help. Think upon what you wish to see, clear your mind of all other distractions, and with luck, it will come to you." 

i settled in the chair next to my brother and closed my eyes as I'd been told to do. Clearing my mind of other distractions was a rather difficult thing to do; every two seconds my thoughts would jump to something else. The hippogriff... the prophecy trelawney had given... the foster home id be going to over the summer... sirius black...ninas silly theory...

"can we do ours in haiku?" magnus' question came from out of the blue. 

trelawney looked surprised by this but she nodded, still looking quite shaken from her own prophecy. I wondered if she was even in the right state of mind to help us with ours. Maybe we should have given her a moment? but before i could suggest anything of the sort my brother was going on, "great ill start" 

he cleared his throat very dramatically like he was about to give the worlds greatest speech. "With war on the rise..." 

i expected his voice to come out all husky and terrible the way trelawneys had but it sounded completely normal which gave me hope for my own line. Im not sure where the words came from really, I just somehow knew it was the right thing to say as i said it, "in concord houses shall stand..." 

"or bad stuff happens," Magnus finished. 

"Very creative of you," I said. 

"Haikus are hard, okay?" 

"if they're so hard then why'd you suggest it?"

"thought it would look cool on paper." he picked up a quill and jotted our words down underneth Trelawney's. "I was right." i frowned at the haiku prophecy. Somehow, reading it all at once, seeing it layed out in front of me like that, it made everything seem much more real. 

"A war on the rise..." I looked at professor trelawney trying not to think too hard about where all these visions and dreams were leading up to. Even my more positive ones seemed less fun now. More dainty and useless the way people always seemed to think i was. "That cant be true can it?"

professor trelawney had a somber look in her eyes. Her hands were clutching her shawl so tight her knuckles changed colour. "Let us hope not, my dears... let us hope not..." she paused a moment and then said with a certain determination. "I shall inform the headmaster of this at once! I sense it is of great importance that he stay informed of these prophecies. Meanwhile, my dears, try to enjoy your last few days, i sense you will soon have a great shock."